The Incredible Hulk After Credits

The Incredible Hulk made a big impact on the Marvel Cinematic Universe by taking a character that was once considered an afterthought and bringing him into the fold. It was the first movie to use CGI to bring Hulk’s comic book powers to life, and it reimagined Bruce Banner’s origin in a way that would become critical to future MCU movies.

The Hulk’s Powers Are Born of Rage and Fear

There are some comic books that don’t need much by way of introduction — Superman from Krypton; Spider-Man bitten by a spider; and, yes, the Hulk from Earth. This doesn’t mean that they don’t need to tell us how they got their powers, but The Incredible Hulk dispensed with that pleasantries and let the big reveal happen right there in front of us.

As a matter of fact, the movie actually ends with Bruce’s body grotesquely twisting and bulging until he is injected with an antidote that reverses his transformation. It’s a very intense, very violent moment in the film, and it shows how much care the CGI wizards put into depicting Hulk’s real-world powers.

Thankfully, there’s been a lot of rethinking and reconsideration in the MCU over the years. In particular, it’s become more and more common to see characters who were once considered “out of the box” being brought back into the fold. This has led to many of the MCU’s biggest characters becoming part of a new continuity.

She-Hulk: Attorney at Law brings a number of interesting things to the table as a spinoff of the MCU that many MCU shows don’t talk about. In the first episode, Jen Walters (Tatiana Maslany) is concerned about her cousin, Captain America, Steve Rogers’ (Chris Evans) alleged sexual history. She tries to get a bit of an answer from Rogers, who is still living and is very much in love with his daughter.

This leads to a conversation about Steve’s sexual history that’s incredibly revealing and very fun. It explains how Rogers lost his virginity in 1943. And it’s a story that most Marvel fans don’t even know is true. It’s an exciting revelation and one that a lot of people are going to be buzzing about, so we can expect it to come up a lot more in She-Hulk.

A Normal Amount of Rage

Another important line from She-Hulk’s first episode comes from her cousin, Bruce Banner. He tells her that Hulk’s powers are triggered by anger and fear, which is the baseline for every woman. The scene has a lot of resonance for women who’ve been subjected to double standards and stigmatized as monsters because of their own behavior.

He also warns her that once people start seeing you as a monster, that never goes away. That’s a line that can really resonate with the current climate, especially in light of the recent sexual assault allegations against Hollywood celebrities.

She-Hulk is the latest MCU series to make an effort to deal with issues that other MCU projects have avoided. It’s a refreshing change to see something like this happen in the MCU, as it gives a show an added level of realism that can be difficult to pull off with other series. Hopefully, She-Hulk will be one of the shows that does that well.